Lionel St. Eloi
Lionel St. Eloi was born in 1950 in Port-au-Prince and grew
up in the “Carrefour Feuilles” neighborhood where he still lives today. After
having first cut his artistic “teeth” on ceramics, drawing and painting at Poto
Mitan, he was introduced to Le Centre d’Art in 1972 where he took classes with
Antonio Joseph, Franck Louissant and participated in life at the Center.
At first he dedicated himself to painting, but towards the
1990s, due to the lack of painting material because of the embargo, he started
to explore salvaged sculpture and used materials like aluminum, old metal
files, barbed wire, used parts, forks, flowers, jewelry, etc. His sculptures,
often inspired by mystic elements are a unique genre, and quickly gave him
international recognition.
His works have been exhibited internationally, in
particular at the Grand Palais, the Abbaye de Daoulas, the Halle Saint-Pierre,
the Fowler Museum, the Ramapo College Art Gallery, the Musée du Montparnasse,
the Outsider Art Fair of NY and the Arco in Madrid. His work is part of the
permanent collections at the Waterloo Museum, Le Centre d’Art and the Musée
d’Art Haïtien du Collège Saint-Pierre.
